The 2023 college football season is already halfway through, and there have been a lot of unexpected twists and turns.
The story of the season has been Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes, who took the country by storm in the first couple of games.
In the season opener, Colorado defeated TCU, who was ranked No. 17 at the time. Colorado, led by Deion’s son Shedeur, beat TCU 45-42 and showed that all the hype was not for nothing.
Colorado would go on to win their next two games as well and were ranked No. 19. Unfortunately, the Cinderella story came to end when Oregon routed the Buffaloes 42-6 in Week Four.
“I wanted Colorado to go all the way,” said Toby Gaines, a senior mass communication major. “Deion is a great coach and really put together something special, so I hated to see them lose like they did.”
Another surprising story so far this season has been the Texas Longhorns. Texas shocked the nation in Week Two when they defeated No. 3 Alabama 34-24.
The Longhorns then went on to beat Baylor and a ranked Kansas team. Their undefeated season came to an end when Oklahoma beat them 34-30 in the Allstate Red River Rivalry.
This season has seen a lot of disappointments for teams like Notre Dame, LSU, Clemson and even Alabama.
Notre Dame has always been known to have a powerhouse of an offensive line, but this season has seen the opposite. Louisville tore up their O-line, resulting in five sacks of quartberback Sam Hartman, eight tackles for loss, and only 44 net rushing yards.
As it stands right now, the top four teams in the country are Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and Florida State, respectively.
Georgia’s only close game so far was against Auburn in Week Five. In a back-and-forth battle, Georgia just barely avoided a big upset — thanks to a 40-yard touchdown from star tight end Brock Bowers at the end of the game.
“I was a little concerned with how we looked through the first couple of weeks,” said Tucker Sutton, a senior accounting major. “After we beat the brakes off a good Kentucky team, I got a little faith back.”
Michigan has not allowed more than 10 points in any game they have played in this season. This is mostly due to what has been a very easy schedule for them so far, but they do have to face both Penn State and Ohio State at the end of the season.
Ohio State has also had a relatively easy schedule so far, except for their Week Five matchup against Notre Dame. The Buckeyes scored a touchdown with one second left in the game to win 17-14.
Florida State opened the season against No. 5 LSU, who they defeated 45-24. They then went on to beat Clemson as well in Week Four and are still undefeated.
“I think this is the best we have looked since the Jimbo Fisher and Jameis Winston days,” said Colby Lau, a senior marketing major. “I really believe this is our year for the taking, and I can’t wait for the playoffs.”
With the second half of the season yet to come, there are still a lot of teams that have a chance to make the playoffs, and it will be very exciting to watch.
